Indian cricket rocked by fresh IPL spot-fixing scandal

Police have arrested three Indian crickets including Test star Shantakumaran Sreesanth regarding allegations of spot-fixing during this season’s Indian Premier League.

Talking about the claims, Delhi Police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said: “It is with considerable regret and anguish that I pronounce the arrest of three players - namely Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila - and seven bookies and their assistants.

“There was an agreement that the players would give away a minimum amount of runs in an over.”

The Board of Cricket Control in India have suspended the three players involved and have promised the strictest of action will be taken if they are found guilty.

Former ICC chief Sharad Pawar has called for swift, strong solid action against the trio.

“This had to happen and will happen again because enough action is not taken against such people,” Pawar said.

“Bans of a year or two will not help. People should get life bans, or else no one will be able to stop this menace. Cricket is considered a religion here (in India) but it is only bringing disrepute”

Spot-fixing is becoming increasingly troublemaking in cricket since the growth of internet betting, and the IPL in particular has been plagued with controversy because of the match-fixing.

Driven by sponsorships, broadcast income and ticket sales, the IPL is comfortably the world’s richest cricket competition, worth an estimated $3.67 billion, according to London-based Brand Finance Plc.

Kirti Azad, an Indian lawmaker and former international cricketer, believes there is not enough restraint against corruption.

“This had to happen and will happen again because enough action is not taken against such people,” said Azad.

“Bans of a year or two will not help. People should get life bans, or else no one will be able to stop this menace. Cricket is considered a religion here (in India) but it is only bringing disrepute.”

The incident follows Indian cricketer T.P Sudhindra’s suspension last year who was handed a life ban after he being found guilty of attempting to fix a game.

The most high-profile example of spot-fixing happened on English soil when former Pakistan captain Salman Butt, pace bowler Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were found guilty of corrupting a test series against England in 2010.

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